A Problem
''A Problem ''is a short story by BionicleChicken. It takes place in the Westernverse, where Bara Magna takes the form of a Wild Western frontier. Story The Agori fell over the stairs and fell face flat on the dirt ground. The bottle in his hand rolled away and was stepped on by a Rock Steed. The Steed's rider cursed at the fallen Agori for scaring his ride with his shattered bottle. As the traveller rode off, a set of legs appeared next to the Agori's body. They belonged to the Agori Marshal of the town, Gredec. The town was small, made up entirely of fifteen buildings, all of them easily mistakable for simple two story huts. Their signs clarified whether or not they were homes or businesses. Behind the fallen Agori was a building marked as the town's obligatory saloon. Inside, music and unsober laughter leaked out into the night air. The Agori rubbed the dirt off his face and smacked out any particles that might had managed to sneak into his helmet. He struggled to stand. The Glatorian bouncer that threw him out had a rough touch. Gredec sighed, and exchanged looks with the bouncer. His hands were rested on his dual revolvers, each holstered on both of his hips. "What's happened here?" Gredec asked in his natural baritone voice. The bouncer smacked his hands, as if wiping away any grime that the Agori had on his person. "Disturbin' the peace, Marshal," the bouncer replied. His tone was surprisingly respectful towards the shorter Gredec. "I wasn't disturbing no peace," the Agori grumbled. "At least not yet, anyways." "This fella thought it'd be funny to threaten us all with his gang if the saloon didn't pay a proposed tax," the bouncer explained, crossing his arms like a sentinel. "I wasn't and I ain't joking," the Agori was on his feet now. He wiped the dust off his belly and legs. "Now you've gone and made me mad. I would've let y'all off with a warning. Maybe. If you did so politely. But now you've gone and made me mad." "We heard you the first time, young man," Gredec spat at the ground to his right. "Here, we don't tolerate threats to our good town." "Well, it's no longer a threat," the Agori pointed at Gredec intimidatingly. Gredec didn't budge. "Me and my friends, we're coming for you and your 'good town' now." "Oh please, you know how many gangs we've already gotten rid of?" Gredec asked retorically. Despite the retorical nature, Gredec turned to the bouncer and asked, "You know how many gangs we've warded off?" "Four or five these two months, Marshal," the bouncer answered quickly and consistently. Gredec raised his hands up, as if displaying his victory in whatever argument he was having with the Agori. The latter growled and began to walk away. "You just wait, you old bags. We're coming, and you better pay up after what's coming." "If you boys are so scary, why'd they send you to threaten a saloon all by yourself?" Gredec asked. The Agori's face, in the light of the saloon spilling out onto the street, grew red with anger. He spun around and stomped off. The Agori grumbled as he made his way to his Rock Steed. Next to it was another Rock Steed was just hitched by some Glatorian wearing a Skrall shield as a hat. In his frustration and irrational annoyance at the hat, the Agori intentionally bumped past the Glatorian. "Excuse me," The Glatorian said, turning to the rude Agori who was unhitching his Rock Steed. "Do you have a problem?" "You're damn right I have a problem," the Agori snarled as he climbed aboard his Steed. "And it's none of your damn business." The Agori stirred his Steed and rode off. ---- The Glatorian with No Name watched the rude Agori ride off. He patted his Rock Steed. It growled in enjoyment at its master's acknowledgment of it. He looked around at the town and spotted an Agori bidding goodbye to a saloon bouncer. The Agori spotted the Glatorian with No Name and smiled. "Howdy," the Agori greeted, walking over to the Glatorian. "Stopping by, No?" The Glatorian with No Name met the Agori's open hand and shook it. "Indeed, Gredec--I mean, Marshal," he greeted back, nodding. He turned back towards the direction of the rude Agori. The rider was out of sight already. "What was with grumpy there?" Gredec shook his head and began walking back to his office. The Glatorian with No Name followed. "Some juvenile punk who thought he could scare people into paying taxes. He actually told me that he had some gang that'll come into town." "Hm," The Glatorian with No Name shrugged. "Don't you think you oughtta be ready for some attack? He might not be bluffing." Gredec grunted. "I will. First thing in the morning, my men will patrol the town's perimeter. These guys don't seem to be a bright bunch, sending that moron to relay a threat to a bartender." The pair had made it to the front door of Gredec's office. They entered it. Inside was dimly lit by a single orb of light hung directly above Gredec's desk. Behind said desk was a bookshelf. There were only about two actual books on the shelves. The other items were either firearms, cuffs, or litter. An entire part of the office was nothing but jail cells. The Glatorian with No Name ignored the foul stench of spit and animal droppings on the floor. He had a surprising ability to keep a straight face even in the most disturbing or odd situations. Gredec spat onto the floor before sitting at his desk. The Glatorian with No Name avoided scoffing at the Marshal's habit of spitting everywhere. Gredec ducked underneath his desk, opening drawers. "Let's see, where is it..." the Agori muttered. "Ah! Here it is." Gredec held up a bottle of Bota Ale and set it on his desk. He then reached down again and placed two small glasses besides the bottle. "I've drank a lot of this before," Gredec explained. "Only with friends, though." Gredec raised his eyebrows at the Glatorian with No Name, an alternate way of winking. "Why are there animal droppings here?" The Glatorian with No Name brought up the Baterra in the room. "A dog kept wandering in here and leaving me these," Gredec muttered as he poured the Bota Ale into the glasses. "I should lock that door more often. If only I wasn't too busy making sure this place doesn't suffer a mini-Core War." Gredec paused, as if remembering something. He looked up at the Glatorian with No Name apologetically. "Sorry." The Glatorian held up a hand. "It's alright. It's behind us all now." Gredec nodded, though his eyes shot out more apologies. He held out a finger and used it to push an ale-filled glass closer to the Glatorian. The latter shrugged and took it. Gredec took his own and clinked it with the Glatorian's. Both drank simultaeneously. "You know..." Gredec swallowed his ale. "I still feel I didn't thank you enough for helping with those rustlers a few weeks ago." The Glatorian stared at his glass. "Does the saloon have a room to provide me?" "Staying for the night?" Gredec asked, apparently instantly forgetting what he just said. The Glatorian nodded. "I'm sure you can handle this gang of deliquents yourself. I'm that confident with you, Marshal." The Agori nodded. He took the bottle of Bota Ale and held it over his glass. "Another one?" Gredec asked. ---- The Glatorian with No Name's belt and holster, with the gun still in it, was laid on the nightstand of the room. The bounty hunter laid on the bed on his back. His eyes stared at the ceiling. Or at least they would be if he hadn't closed them to sleep. His slumber was not long, as he was suddenly awakened by a gunshot outside. His eyes widened and his body flinched. The Glatorian with No Name looked at the window without moving his body. The sun was coming up. Morning. The Glatorian with No Name rubbed his eyes as he heard Rock Steeds speeding away. He sat up and listened to the sounds. Yelling could be heard. Arguments rang throughout the street. The Glatorian heard footsteps stomp up the stairs. The feet came closer to the door of his room. A rattling of the door's knob and the door smashed open. Before the Glatorian could protest about the sudden intrusion to Gredec, the Agori's stressed look interrupted him. "They came early. They stole the bank's safe. Quietly, too. Help us. Now." After quickly putting on his belt and hat, the Glatorian followed Gredec downstairs. On ground level, the Glatorian saw a train leave the town's train station. Gredec grumbled and cursed. The Marshal whistled for his Rock Steed as the bounty hunter climbed on top of his own. Once both were on saddles, they found themselves suddenly surrounded by Glatorian and Agori lawmen. "Let's get our safe back," Gredec said, making his Steed charge after the fleeing train. The posse followed the Marshal. The Glatorian with No Name was riding next to Gredec. The Marshal had no traces of friendliness on his face, none of the socializing pleasantness he had last night. Gredec was determined in his job. "They were smarter than we thought," Gredec explained, his eyes kept on the train. "They came by that train, which they took over a few miles before it arrived here. They snuck into the bank and grabbed the safe. An unfortunate soul saw them heading towards the station and got shot. That and the spooked Rock Steeds alerted us and here we are." "Any idea where they're heading?" The Glatorian with No Name asked. "Best guess is out of my jurisdiction," Gredec grunted. "They probably think leaving it is gonna make me leave them alone. They're not going to stop until we give up chasing them." The posse steered their Steeds closer to the train. The idea was obvious enough for the Glatorian with No Name to follow easily. He patted his Steed's head, as if to tell it "I'm counting on you here, don't mess up." The Glatorian began to stand on the saddle, carefully as possible. The other lawmen did the same. Their Rock Steeds were lining up to be parallel to the moving locomotive. The Glatorian finally let go of the reins. He held his hands out to balance himself. Counting down to time it right, the Glatorian leapt at the side of the train. He didn't know how he managed it, but his fingers caught the edge of the car's roof. His legs dangled and swung towards the back of the train car. The Glatorian's focus was on getting to the roof, so he was forced to ignore the screams of lawmen that possibly overshot their jump and fell to the ground painfully. The Glatorian looked towards the front of the train. He spotted lawmen littered across the sides of the linked cars. He even saw some of them trying to climb onto the roofs. Gredec was holding on two cars ahead of the Glatorian. Next to him was a Glatorian deputy who tugged at the handle of the sliding door on the car. The Glatorian with No Name finally climbed on top of his respective train car. He crouched to keep balance and avoid being thrown backwards by the speed. Steadily, the Glatorian hopped to the next car. His landing was difficult, as he nearly slid off the roof. Bursts of smoke suddenly erupted from the surface of the roof. The Glatorian cursed and rolled around randomly. Out of sheer luck, none of the Thornax seeds speeding towards him missed. His poncho had a few extra holes, though. The Glatorian waited until the firing stopped. He counted the rounds that were fired. thirty six rounds were rapidly fired randomly. There were two people in this car. He unholstered his revolver and readied it. He looked over to Gredec, who had his hand extended towards him. The Glatorian with No Name grasped it and lifted him up to the roof. Gredec took out both of his own revolvers and aimed it at the roof. The Glatorian with No Name did the same. The deputy's gun could be heard cocking over the loud noise of the train rumbling on the tracks. "Now!" Gredec began firing at the roof, as did his Glatorian allies. More holes were formed on the roof. The Glatorian with No Name and Gredec rotated around the roof, firing all of their seeds into the car. The three waited for any returning fire. None came. The deputy pulled the door open and hopped inside. Gredec swung into the car as well, while the Glatorian with No Name stayed on the roof. Gredec stuck his head out. "No, The safe isn't here! And I doubt we'll manage to do this easy-like if this damn train kept moving." "I'll take care of it," The Glatorian with No Name grunted as he walked to the center of the roof. He took a step back and began sprinting across the surface. He began car-hopping, leaping over each gap between the cars. Sometimes, he nearly tripped and fell. Sometimes, more gunfire came from beneath his feet. The Glatorian was fast enough to avoid them. Eventually, he managed to make it to the car penultimate to the engine. He didn't leap the gap and simply dropped onto the linkage. He stepped over and hugged the rear of the engine car. The Glatorian with No Name shimmied along the side of the engine, trying to avoid looking down at the dirt ground speeding past below. The Glatorian eventually found a spot to take a peek at the person controlling the train's speed. He expected to see a big brute that was either the gang's leader or the leader's personal bodyguard. But no. What he saw was the rude Agori that bumped into him earlier. The Glatorian with No Name took out his revolver and edged closer. He prepared to aim it at the Agori. He was going to hold him at gunpoint and order him to stop the train. Unfortunately, a big hand grabbed the gun and pulled the Glatorian into the engine car. There was the big brute. "Ha! You think this would be easy?!" The Agori yelled obnoxiously. The brute looked to be a muscular Glatorian from the Fire Tribe, and he easily picked up the Glatorian with No Name. The bounty hunter tried to shoot the brute in the head. The Fire Tribe brute tore it out of his hand and held it mockingly. The brute carried the Glatorian to the edge of the car and held him above the ground. The brute sneered happily and stupidly. The Glatorian desperately tried to punch the brute's arm into submission, to no avail. The brute grinned more moronically. His large hand tightened its grip. It was probably a dirty move but the Glatorian didn't care. He was about to be choked to death or dropped on the ground where he'd probably break his neck from rolling around so much. He raised his foot and thrust it forward, right into the brute's throat. The lump in the neck must've been dislodged, because the brute suddenly started grabbing at his throat, all the while gagging. Very fortunately, the brute fell backwards, and the Glatorian was pulled along, away from the edge. The Glatorian with No Name wrenched himself free of the choking brute's clutch and grabbed his revolver. He aimed the barrel at the rude Agori, who was now shocked at the bounty hunter's survival. "Stop this thing," The Glatorian rasped, his vocal cords still recovering from the grip."or I'll do the obvious." ---- Smoking was not the best thing to do after being choked by a large hulk. But the Glatorian with No Name needed something to calm himself down. It wasn't fear exactly, but it was definitely adrenaline that was coursing through the bounty hunter's veins. The halted train was still letting off steam, literally, as the safe stealers were forced onto their knees. Cuffs were roughly snapped on as a jail transport appeared. It wasn't pulled by any steeds whatsover, so it was motorized completely. The only living sentient thing assosciated with it so far was the driver. While the prospect of piloting the vehicle sounded nice, the Glatorian with No Name had long decided he shan't use it as his primary form of transportation. Imagine the despair his Rock Steed would be in if it found out he replaced it with a lifeless machine. The gang members were herded into the trailer attached to the rear of the vehicle. Gredec was rotating his arm like it was slightly pulled from its socket as he talked to the driver. The Marshal did a small two-fingers-on-the-forehead-salute-style farewell to the driver as he moved the transport. Gredec stretched his back and sighed in relaxation as he felt and heard a crack. He came over to the Glatorian, who was holding his smoke tube between his index and middle finger. The bounty hunter was sitting on a boulder, and the Marshal sat himself down next to him. Gredec stared at the smoke tube his friend was holding. "Mind if I had one?" He asked. The Glatorian didn't verbally respond, but he pulled out another and handed it to Gredec. He also handed him the matches. "Guess I got too cocky today, huh, No? Underestimating that kid and his misfits." "Maybe just a tiny bit," The Glatorian cleared his throat. He rubbed his neck and grunted. "The big guy's dead, ain't he?" Gredec nodded, not looking at the Glatorian. "Just another day in our little town," Marshal Gredec took a puff of his smoke tube. "Just another day in your little town," The Glatorian with No Name paraphrased. The Glatorian coughed. Trivia *Like the previous story, this story is inspired by a mission from the video game Red Dead Redemption. Category:Stories Category:Bara Magna